Crean leaving decision making process up to Ferrell #iubb

Tom Crean isn’t recruiting Yogi Ferrell for a second time. He’s not telling him what to do or how to proceed.

What the IU coach has done is present his point guard with the research and thoughts of the NBA decision makers who hold Ferrell’s immediate future in their hands.

From there the decision is up to Ferrell, who will announce Saturday night whether he will return to Bloomington for his senior season or forego his final year in search of a professional pay day.

“What we try to do is we try to get real feedback that we can add to the projection, and then it becomes a matter of are you going to trust the research?” Crean said. “Are you going to look at it and say this is what it is or are you going to believe something that’s not there? That’s the most important thing you can do, but I don’t bug those guys about that. I really don’t.”

The research says Ferrell is a second-round pick, at best, and even that’s muddled by a few factors.

For one, DraftExpress.com projects the 6-foot Indianapolis native will go undrafted and doesn’t include Ferrell among its top 100 potential NBA prospects in the 2015 draft pool. Of that group, 15 are pure point guards ranked ahead of Ferrell.

ESPN draft expert Chad Ford told The Herald-Times last month that Ferrell could boost that stock by returning for his senior season and proving that he can lead the Hoosiers deep into March.

“It’s interesting because his size, his physical stature is the biggest thing holding him back,” Ford told The Herald-Times. “He can’t do anything about that. He can get physically stronger, and that’s something. But I think what he’s gonna have to do to get drafted is follow Shabazz Napier. Everybody said the exact same thing about Shabazz Napier coming in. He was second round pick at best if he would’ve come out then he led UConn to a championship and caught the high.

“(Scouts said), ‘This kind of swagger, this kind of floor leadership, I’m gonna value that on a veteran team and draft him.’ It wasn’t really until the tournament that he did that.”

With Troy Williams and James Blackmon Jr both announcing their plans to return to school next fall, and with the recent addition of four-star center Thomas Bryant, Ferrell would have the opportunity to lead the most complete and balanced team he’s had since his freshman year, when he started all 36 games on the way to IU’s second consecutive Sweet 16 appearance.

He will make a player like Bryant better, and a true center like Bryant will do the same for Ferrell. With a proven point guard like Ferrell, Indiana could start the season ranked as high as No. 15 — and perhaps higher.

Whether or not they get there is, in part, up to Ferrell.

“Whatever happens on that, he’s going to make a smart decision,” Crean said. “All you want to do is you want to make sure you’re giving them every bit of factual information that you can give.”

I would like to see Yogi go. IU does not need him the way he needs IU. If he is half as good as he thinks he is he would be a good player. I have not been a fan of CTC but he is absolutely correct in that he is not going to recruit him a second time. As a fighter pilot I
found out the hard way that when you think you are the best somebody comes along and shoots your *** down.

Maybe YF is assuming leadership role and is going to take part in the announcement that TM is going to IU and his return. I would like for him to just text it or tell someone who he needs to tell on the phone or in person. Then, go work on his game. The only other thing not mentioned is he could transfer to Butler or long shot @ UCLA.

The announcement is tied to a fund raiser that his dad is conducting at Ruth Chris tonight for his foundation. The idea was that the announcement would draw more people to the fund raiser. Not a bad reason for this circus.

There is no event tie-in tonight. YF’s dad has a foundation I believe is called Kevin Ferrell Kares. They held an event at Ruth’s Chris for that back in March. The circus tonight was for YF and YF only.